Football Gazette's Small College Football Blog

Don Hansen's Football Gazette Blog of information, comments, notes, and tidebits on Small College Football. NCAA 1-AA & Mid Major, Division II & Mid Major, Division III, NAIA, and NCCAA

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE DISCONTINUES INTERCOLLEGIATE FOOTBALL

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE DISCONTINUES INTERCOLLEGIATE FOOTBALL; WILL
STRENGTHEN OVERALL ATHLETIC PROGRAM

MORAGA, CA (March 3, 2004) – Brother Craig Franz, F.S.C., president of
Saint Mary’s College of California, today announced a reallocation of
College resources to strengthen the College’s diverse intercollegiate,
club and recreational sports programs. As a result, Saint Mary’s is
discontinuing its participation in intercollegiate football, effective
immediately.

“This difficult decision is the result of thoughtful and lengthy
discussions over recent years about the competitive and financial
realities confronting all higher educational institutions of our size,”
said Brother Craig. “Based on recommendations made to our Board of
Trustees by an Athletics Review Task Force on the best way to optimize
our athletic resources, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously earlier
today to discontinue the Saint Mary’s football program, and to
reallocate those resources to our 14 other intercollegiate sports
programs.”

The 18-member Athletics Review Task Force included former and current
Gael student-athletes, coaches, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees and
regents. They were charged with reviewing and evaluating all aspects of
Saint Mary’s student athletic programs.

“Given the significant financial and support requirements for fielding a
football team capable of competing against our Division I-AA peers, as
well as the impact on funding for our other intercollegiate teams, the
board agreed that the best way to serve the athletic needs of our entire
student population is to discontinue this one program,” said Nicholas
Moore, chairman of the Saint Mary’s Board of Trustees.
Saint Mary’s will honor all existing football personnel contracts and
grants-in-aid commitments to affected coaches and student-athletes. The
College is offering career, academic and personal counseling services
during the transition period, and has been in contact with the NCAA to
support those student-athletes who choose to pursue athletic
opportunities at other colleges and universities.

“We are proud of the remarkable contributions our football program has
made to Saint Mary’s over some 75 years and deeply grateful to our
coaches, our players, the families and fans whose invaluable support is
so intrinsic to the spirit of our College,” said Brother Craig. “We are
all saddened by this painful decision, but it is our obligation to care
for the academic and athletic experiences of all of our students.”

With today’s decision, Saint Mary’s joins a growing list of some 30
colleges and universities across the United States whose resource
requirements have resulted in the discontinuation of intercollegiate
football programs in order to serve a broader range of student athletic
and recreational programs.

###

Saint Mary’s College of California is one of the most distinguished
colleges in the West. The College’s reputation for excellence,
innovation and responsiveness comes from its heritage as a Catholic,
Lasallian, and liberal arts institution. This heritage creates a
personalized, student-centered learning community. Saint Mary’s offers
undergraduate and graduate programs in liberal arts and professional
education. The College is located in Moraga, 20 miles east of San
Francisco


--
Rich Davi
Saint Mary's College
Sports Information Director
Office Phone: 925.631.4402
Fax: 925.631.4405
e-mail: rdavi@stmarys-ca.edu



ED FOLEY NAMED HEAD FOOTBALL COACH AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

ED FOLEY NAMED HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
*Former Fordham Offensive Coordinator Promoted to Head Coach*

Bronx, NY (March 3, 2004)—Fordham University announced today the
appointment of Ed Foley as the new head football coach of the Fordham Rams.
Foley replaces Dave Clawson, who resigned last month to become head
football coach at the University of Richmond.

“Ed Foley is the right person to lead the Fordham Rams in football,” said
Joseph M. McShane, S.J., the president of Fordham University. “He is both a
coach and an educator, and I am confident that he will build upon Fordham’s
strong foundation of excellence on and off the gridiron.”

As Fordham’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the past
five seasons, Foley helped rejuvenate a program that rose to the top of the
Patriot League in 2002, when it won its first-ever league title with a 10-3
record. This past fall, the Rams compiled a 9-3 overall record and had 12
players named to the All-Patriot League Team, including six members of the
offense, four of whom were named to the First Team.

“We conducted an extensive search with tremendous interest from many
well-qualified candidates, but in the end Ed Foley earned the job,” said
Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin. “Ed has been a part of
the success of the football program and we’re confident that he will
continue that success.”

Under Foley’s guidance, the Fordham offense has set numerous records in
recent years. The Rams set a team record for most rushing yards in a season
last year, gaining 1,657 yards, while also setting a school record for most
pass completions in a season with 255. Individually, wide receiver Javarus
Dudley, running back Kirwin Watson and quarterback Kevin Eakin all left
their marks in the Fordham record book. Dudley, a consensus 2003 First
Team All-American, set a Fordham single-season record with 101 receptions,
while also becoming the school’s all-time leader in career receptions with
295. Watson, an All-American last year, set the school rushing record with
1,477 yards and also became the school’s all-time leading rusher with 4,617
career rushing yards. Eakin, a First Team All-League selection last fall,
set a school record with 247 completions for 3,072 yards.

In 2002, Fordham led the Patriot League in passing offense and scoring
offense, while finishing second in total offense and setting a team record
for most points in a season. In addition to winning the Patriot League
title that season, the Rams advanced to the NCAA I-AA Playoffs, where they
defeated Northeastern University in the first round.

The Rams had four offensive players named First Team All-Patriot League in
2002, including Watson, who was also named the Patriot League Offensive
Player of the Year. Three other players were named to the Second Team.

In 2001, Foley helped the Fordham offense develop its first 1,000-yard
rusher on the NCAA Division I-AA level, as well as the first-ever
1,000-yard receiver in Fordham’s history. The Rams had the second-rated
passing offense in the Patriot League in 2001 as well as the second-best
scoring offense.

In 2000, Foley’s offense established a running game that generated 1,635
yards (an average of 148.6 per game), the most for a Fordham team on the
I-AA level until the 2003 team gained 1,657.

Foley arrived at Fordham after spending the 1998 season as the offensive
coordinator and offensive line coach at Jacksonville University, which
sponsored a football team that year for the first time in the school’s
history. Foley helped lead the Dolphins to a 4-5 record during their
inaugural season, as the offense scored 271 points in nine games (30.1
ppg).

Foley also served as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania
from 1991 to 1993, and again from 1995 to 1997, spending the 1994 season as
an assistant at Williams College. At Penn, Foley coached the tight ends
and tackles for five years and helped the Quakers to a perfect 10-0 record
in 1993, when they also won the Ivy League Championship. Prior to his
stint at Penn, Foley served as the offensive line coach at the State
University of New York (SUNY) at Albany for two years.

Foley was a three-year starter at Bucknell University, playing offensive
guard for one season and center for two. During his junior year, he was
named the team’s top lineman and he served as a captain during his senior
year. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bucknell in 1989 and
a master’s degree in educational psychology at SUNY Albany in 1991.

He is married to the former Rebecca Schonfeld and has a son, Charlie, born
on January 4, 2000. His brother is Glenn Foley, the former New York Jets
and Boston College quarterback.

The Rams have compiled a 26-10 record over the past three years, 14th best
in the NCAA I-AA. They will open the 2004 campaign, their 105th season of
varsity football, on Saturday, Sept. 4, when they host the University of
Rhode Island on Jack Coffey Field at 1 p.m.

Founded in 1841, Fordham is New York City’s Jesuit University. With 22
men’s and women’s varsity sports teams, the Fordham Rams are members of the
NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference in baseball,
basketball, cross country, golf, indoor and outdoor track, women’s rowing,
soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball, and in the
Patriot League (NCAA I-AA) for football.

FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Joe DiBari
Sports Information Director
Fordham University
dibari@fordham.edu
718-817-4240

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE TO ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: NEWS & ASSIGNMENT EDITORS, SPORTS WRITERS AND
HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTERS

MEDIA ADVISORY
March 3, 2004

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE TO ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC
PROGRAM


WHAT: A press conference to announce major changes in the Saint Mary’s
College athletics program.

WHEN: Today, Wednesday, March 3, 2004, 2 p.m.

WHERE: Soda Center, Claeys Lounge
Saint Mary’s College
Moraga, California

WHO: • Brother Craig Franz, President, Saint Mary’s College
• Sally Stampp, Provost
• Nicholas G. Moore, Chair, Saint Mary’s College Board of Trustees
• Russell J. Harrison, Chair, Athletics Review Task Force
• Carl R. Clapp, Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports
• Vincent White, Head Coach, Football
• Stephanie Shrieve, Associate Director of Athletics/Compliance

WHY: An Athletics Review Task Force recently completed a review of all
of Saint Mary’s intercollegiate, club and recreational sports programs
and has made recommendations to the Board of Trustees on ways to best
optimize the college’s athletic resources.

CONTACT: Rich Davi
Sports Information Director
Saint Mary’s College
(925) 631-4402 or

Debra Holtz
Media Relations Officer
Saint Mary’s College
(925) 631-4222 or cell (925) 878-9425
###


--
Rich Davi
Saint Mary's College
Sports Information Director
Office Phone: 925.631.4402
Fax: 925.631.4405
e-mail: rdavi@stmarys-ca.edu